Titans Run Past `Runners, 78-61

BAKERSFIELD, CA -
Cal State Fullerton's Megan Richardson and Jasmine Scott combined to score 50 of the Titans' 78 points on the night while freshman Mya Olivier tallied her second career double-double to help lift their team to a 78-61 victory over host Cal State Bakersfield on Wednesday night at the Icardo Center in Bakersfield, Calif.

The win improved Fullerton's mark to 12-14 overall on the season while the Roadrunners fell to 15-10 on the year with the loss.

Richardson finished with a team-high 28 points, torching the Bakersfield defense on 10-of-15 shooting in 38 minutes to go along with five rebounds and three assists. Scott hit on 9-of-12 from the floor to finish with 22 points while Olivier added 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting to go along with a career-high 14 rebounds.

The Roadrunners' Phynique Allen edged Richardson for game honors, scoring 29 points on 9-of-16 from the floor and 10-of-15 from the line. She was the only Bakersfield player in double figures as the Titans held leading scorer Katie Williams to just one point on 0-of-7 shooting from the field in 22 minutes. Williams entered the night averaging 19.3 ppg and shooting over 43 percent from the floor.

Spurred by a season-best 51 percent shooting performance on the night, Cal State Fullerton led wire-to-wire, opening the game on a 13-2 run and led by as many as 12 points before a 10-2 run at the end of the first half gave the Titans a 15-point, 39-24, advantage at the break. Fullerton shot just under 55 percent from the field in the opening half while holding the Roadrunners to just 32 percent in the first 20 minutes.

The lead grew to as many as 24 points on three occasions in the second half as Fullerton opened the period on a 13-4 run and led 58-34 with 9:18 to play. The Roadrunners began to chip away, but were unable to shrink the deficit to single digits, getting as close as 13 points with just over two minutes to play. The Titans then hit 6-of-6 from the line to close out the game and ice the victory.

Fullerton outrebounded Bakersfield, 44-28, for the game including a 15-8 advantage on the offensive end. The defense also turned in a solid performance on the night, forcing the Roadrunners into 19 turnovers, turning those into 23 points.

The Titans now turn their attention back to Big West Conference play for their final four contests of the regular season, traveling to UC Santa Barbara for a 2 p.m. tipoff on Saturday (Feb. 20) at The Thunderdome. Fullerton has lost its last 34 consecutive meetings with the Gauchos dating back to 1995.